Public speaking – why you should share your business failures

In our most recent DIVA live meeting the focus was on how to INSPIRE with our speaking. In particular, we were talking about sharing failure as a route to inspiring others. The very next day, I saw this article in The Telegraph.

Please don’t be afraid to share the times when you were unsuccessful. These stories show your resilience, your ingenuity and your general feisty nature as you pick yourself up and doggedly move towards your goals.

I know that in the world of glossy Facebook posts where most people only show the good stuff, it can take courage to share tough times. But realise that it’s frequently the hard times that bring us together and create real connection.

I often share the story of how I once got fired for being too shy to speak up during meetings.

And one of my favourite speakers, Lisa Nichols, shares the time when she had no money in her bank account and had to wrap her baby in a towel because she couldn’t afford to buy Pampers.

Lisa frequently talks about THE DIP. This is the part of your story where you take the audience down LOW. You talk about the hard times. How you got there. What it made you feel.

You get them to empathise with you and experience what you went through.

THEN (never forget to do this part!) you share how you climbed back up to where you are now. You let them root for you and you involve them so that they see themselves in you. They experience your lows, and then you take them up HIGH!

And the net result?

INSPIRATION. CONNECTION. INFLUENCE.

Check out the link to this video of Lisa explaining THE DIP.

The audio isn’t great (sorry) but crank up the volume and listen to her explain THE DIP in her own words.